Godzilla (2014) 4K Screenshots (Patreon)

Review up on the main site soon. 

Video

Before getting to what everyone is going to ask and beginning with the upscale of the 2K digital source, that part of the disc is average. Maybe even less than that, considering the occasional light ringing. The disc handles small noise bursts well, and the fidelity pops out enough to notice. Facial texture does make itself known, maintaining a firm presence. City exteriors show decent sharpness, unspectacular when compared to true 4K sources, but a mild leap from the Blu-ray.

Choosing to keep the palette dulled, deep color can only reproduce the restrictive color grading. Warmed over flesh tones take up much of the early runtime, receding to cooler hues elsewhere where/when the cinematography chooses. Godzilla isn't one for thick, attractive primaries, which this disc reflects.

Now for the major stuff. Godzilla's Blu-ray garnered significant criticism for its brightness; that disc required a high-end display to work as intended. With this HDR pass, it's still a notably dark (extra dark, and likely still demanding a great TV too), grayed over movie but, there's a difference.

Thanks to the added highlights and greater attention to/capability in the shadows, Godzilla sports expanded dimensionality. This new contrast sports superb intensity, making Godzilla's atomic breath blindingly bright, emphasizing light, and allowing the grim tone to breathe. No matter the other nominal improvements, the HDR makes the upgrade valuable on its own, even when scenes like the train attack carry their near pitch blackness with pride. In a bright room, those scenes will still be difficult to see.

Audio

Now in the era of Atmos, this audio spectacle only grows in its power. Incredibly deep, potent low-end support greets every action scene, whether the opening earthquakes collapsing the power plant, the Muto hatching, military strikes, or the eventual city brawl. Footsteps and explosions swell through the room, nailing those deepest tones impeccably. There's zero fear in making the room rattle, or using the deepest tones. Godzilla is not subtle.

Expanding on the already grandiose 7.1 mix, overheads find numerous reasons to bring fuller dimension to destruction scenes. It's pinpoint accurate, as if designed for Atmos originally. Balance flawlessly blends the outstanding score, falling rubble, monster roars, or anything else, in total synchronicity. The splendor in Godzilla's design, from the small touches inside the collapsed cave to the vividness of monster roars jumping between speakers, earns this a place right alongside the equally masterful King of the Monsters disc.